The EU wants quiet, fuel-efficient airplanes sooner

Some encouraging news this week from the BBC on the EU’s effort to develop quiet, fuel-efficient aircraft engines. Here’s how the BBC summarizes the situation:

Modern jets aren’t nearly as noisy as their predecessors from a couple of decades ago, but they still make quite a racket on landing or takeoff. If your house is close to the airport that’s bad news. Electric motors are a lot quieter, so they could allow more night flights, especially in airports close to city centres. And of course, there’s the question of emissions. Electrified aircraft, like hybrid cars, should be cleaner than conventional models.

If you live near an airport or beneath a glide path, you’re certainly wondering how soon “quiet” aircraft might appear, right? Well, according to the BBC, so do Airbus and it’s partner Siemens, as the BBC writes that “[t]he firms want to fly a demonstrator version of the plane by 2020, with a commercial application by 2025.”